Tribal faction raises worries about election

A group that filed a federal lawsuit alleging shady practices in a 2009 Mashpee Wampanoag tribal election is again concerned that voting won't be properly regulated when tribe members head to the polls Sunday.

By Heather Wysocki

capecodtimes.com

By Heather Wysocki

Posted Feb. 20, 2013 at 8:08 PM
Updated Feb 20, 2013 at 8:24 PM

By Heather Wysocki

Posted Feb. 20, 2013 at 8:08 PM
Updated Feb 20, 2013 at 8:24 PM

» Social News

MASHPEE – A group that filed a federal lawsuit alleging shady practices in a 2009 Mashpee Wampanoag tribal election is again concerned that voting won't be properly regulated when tribe members head to the polls Sunday.

On Wednesday at a small press conference at Mashpee Town Hall, two tribe members who were involved in the lawsuit – former tribal judiciary committee Chairman Paul Mills and former tribal genealogist Patricia Oakley, both of Mashpee – and the group's attorney, Jonathan Polloni, discussed their fears that the election won't be regulated properly.

That could lead, they allege, to votes cast by people who shouldn't be able to do so.

Polloni recently requested a meeting with tribal leadership to decide on “mutually agreed-upon” election oversights, he said, but was denied the sit-down by Colorado-based tribal attorney Mark Tilden.

“The bottom line here is we're trying through a lot of ways (to change things) ... but council administration has not been very respectful of that,” Polloni said.

Through tribe spokeswoman Brooke Scannell, the tribe's election committee responded that the election process is part of the Mashpee Wampanoag constitution and the tribe's election ordinance and can't be changed.

“The legal requirements provided in both are not negotiable,” according to the statement. “The election committee is charged with conducting a legitimate and lawful election in accordance with tribal law and it is faithfully and diligently carrying out its responsibilities.”

On Jan. 11, the group of nine tribe members Polloni represents filed a suit in U.S. District Court in Boston asking the federal Bureau of Indian Affairs to “investigate the allowance of ineligible voters to vote in the 2009 General Election, to set aside the election results and institute an intermediate government, and oversee the conduct of a new election,” according to federal court records.

The group alleged that a tribal judge allowed four tribe members who had been shunned to go back on voting rolls without having the jurisdiction to take that action. It also alleged improprieties during the election that included voters failing to produce tribal IDs.

Tribal Chairman Cedric Cromwell was elected to the position in 2009 and has since spearheaded the tribe's efforts to build an off-Cape casino. Both he and his second-in-command, Aaron Tobey, face challenges for their seats.

Cromwell is being challenged by David Pocknett and Richard Oakley. Jessie “Little Doe” Baird, director of the tribe's Wopanaak Language Reclamation Project, is vying for Tobey's position.

The tribe members' suit came after several requests since 2009 for the BIA to look into election practices within the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe, court records state. No action has been taken in the suit, according to court records, but group member said they were still hoping for interference before Sunday.

“They could at least have had some involvement from other members of the tribe during the election,” Polloni said.

On Wednesday, Mills and Oakley also said they were worried that tribal administration had put the casino plans above other tribal efforts that might help its around 2,600 members on a daily basis.

“We might still fight as much, but we might get things done,” Mills said. “But we're not looking so much for a particular outcome as the right outcome – transparent, out in the open, done in the democratic process. Whether we like the results or not.”